The present invention relates to a rolling door formed from rigid plastic panels hingedly interlocked with one another.
Plastic material is now becoming a widely accepted replacement for metal, wood and other materials in many different industrial applications. One such application, which is known as a rolling door, comprises a plurality of door panels hingedly connected to one another. In the a rolling door, the panels align with one another when the door is closed and fold relative to one another in opening the door.
Although not currently widely available, there are some rolling doors formed from interlocking plastic panels. These doors are typically much lighter than and more easily maintained than the conventional wood or aluminum rolling panel door. However, because the panels in plastic doors are extremely light in weight, they are much more difficult to stabilize, i.e. to hold in position, relative to one another in comparison to the heavier wood and metal panels. Furthermore, most known plastic rolling doors are typically made for indoor applications and are not generally well suited to block against outdoor environmental conditions.
The present invention provides a door for covering an enclosure in which the door is made from rigid plastic panels hingedly secured to one another with means to both stabilize and weather proof the door.
More particularly, the door of the present invention which is used for covering an enclosure is made from, at least first and second rigid plastic panels hingedly secured by a lateral slide interlock at adjacent edges of the panels with one of those edges being provided with a flex member extending along the panel edge.
The panels are foldable at the interlock between a first panel position in which the panels are out of alignment with one another and a second panel position in which the panels are aligned with one another.
The slide interlock between the panels has sufficient play to enable release and connection of the interlock when the panels are in the first panel position.
In accordance with the present invention, the flex member acts to form a weather seal between the panel edges and to additionally tighten the slide interlock between the panels. Preferably the interlock is tightened sufficiently to totally eliminate the play in the interlock so as to prevent relative lateral movement.
A door having the above unique features takes advantage of the use of light weight durable plastic in the door construction while at the same time having the stability and weather proof qualities of prior art doors made of much heavier materials.